Single-track railway



(No Model.)

SINGLE TRACK RAILWAY.

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PATENT Trice,

SINGLE-TRACK RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Nd. 7.649, dated February 15, 1887.

Application filed May 15, 1886. Serial No. 202,265. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known, that we, GEORGE W. WRIGHT and ROBERT ROAOH, citizens of the United States, residing at Leavenworth, in the county of Crawford and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Single-Track Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-v Figure lrepresents a plan view of a section of track and a truck having suitable traction and guide wheels for carrying out our invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail, to be hereinafter referred to.

Our invention relates to railways employing a. single-track system; and it consists in the construction and combination of devices, hereinafter described and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains, we will now describe a preferred construction and the manner in which we have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A represents a single rail, having a central slot, a, extending longitudinally throughout its length, and provided with deep side grooves, a'.within which travel suitable inclined guide-wheels mounted in the trucks which support the locomotive and coaches comprising the train. These trucks B comprise the usual longitudinal and cross beams, b b, and the intermediate longitudinal beams, 0, having depending arms or boxes (I, in which the shafts D of the traction or drive wheels 0 are mounted. These wheels (1 have central hubs,G, and deep flanges g, which pass down and inclose the sides of the rail A and find a suitable bearing upon the lower flange, A, of said rail, as shown in Fig. 2. In addition to the flanges g, the hubs O of said wheels are provided with central flanges, h,which, engaging the longitudinal slot in the rail, serve to secure said wheels in their proper position on the rail.

In Fig. 3 we illustrate a section of a track which we prefer to use at points where the grade is steep, and when additional traction is needed to draw the train up the incline. In this figure it will be observed we form upon the track A suitable projections or cogs, k, which are engaged by the depressions or cogs Z, formed in the circumferences of the hubs 0 upon each side of the central flanges, h, as shown. This construction approximates the usual rack-and pinion principle and enables the drive-wheels to have a firm bearing upon the track, and obviates the usual slipping of said wheels when the train is traveling upgrade.

Upon the ends of the shafts D are secured crank-arms or eccentrics E, which are connected by pitmen e to the opposite ends of the piston-rods F, operated in suitable steam-cylinders,G, horizontally mounted within a transverse beam, H, as shownin Fig. 1,whereby said pistons operate in unison'to rotate the drivewheels. The guide-wheels L are-mounted in the trucks which support the locomotive and coaches, and upon inclined axes mounted in suitable bearings, and have their peripheries engaging the grooved sides 9 of the rail to retain the trucks in their proper position. By hugging the grooved sides of the rail these wheels not only assist in guiding the travel of the train, but also prevent the cars from jumping the track or turning over. Therefore it would be almost impossible to wreck a train when embodying the construction described, unless a rail should be removed or a washout should disarrange the road-bed and track.

Upon the front of the truck B,which we will suppose in this instance represents the 1000- motive. is arranged a pilot or cow-catcher having a flange, m, and depending arms at, which are designed to clear the top of the rail A and its flanges A from obstructions. Braces N, secured to the cross-beam H, extend to the front and rear, and, in conjunction with the braces O and nuts or other fastening devices, engage and support the axes of the inclined guide-wheels L.

From this description it is manifest we are enabled to construct asubstantial single-track railway, and one in which the danger of wreckage is greatlylessened.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a singletrack railway, the combina tion, with the flanged rail A, having a longitudinal slot formed therein, of the drivewheels, the peripheries of which engage the flanges A, and having centrally-arranged flanges engaging the slotted portion of the rail, substantially as herein described.

2. In a single-rail railway, the rail A, having a longitudinal slot, a, and projections or cogs it upon each side of the slot, in combination with drive-wheels, the hubs of which are provided with depressions or cogs Z for engaging the cogs k, and centrally-disposed flanges engaging the slot, substantially as herein described.

3. In a single-rail railway, the slotted rail A, in combination with the flanged tractionwheels and the inclined guide-Wheels engaging grooves upon each side of the rail, substantially as herein described.

4. In a single-rail railway, the slotted rail, the flanged drive-wheels, and a suitable truck in which said wheels are mounted, in combination with steam-cylinders, the piston-rods, and eccentrics or crank-arms on the shafts of the drive-wheels, operated by the piston-rods to rotate said wheels, substantially as herein described.

5. In a single-rail railway, the slotted rail, a truclgand the flanged drive-wheels mounted 25 therein, in combination with inclined guidewheels engaging the grooved sides of the rail, the steam-cylinders and connections for rotating the drive-wheels, and the braces N and O, and securing devices, all constructed to operate 30 substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The cornbinatio11,with the flanged rail, of a truck, and a pilot secured thereto, and comprising the flange m and depending arms 11, arranged upon each side of the rail in close prox- 5 imity to the upper surface of said rail and its flanges A, substantially as herein described.

GEORGE \V. WRIGHT. ROBERT ROAOH. Witnesses:

E. MoGoLLUM, PREsToN ARNICK. 

